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Hughes headed to Trenton
Topic Started: Mar 29 2006, 11:50 AM (51 Views)
Mantlemurcer
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Heralded Hughes Trenton-bound
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
JOHN NALBONE
Thunder
TAMPA, Fla. -- Ready or not, the Yankees are sending their No. 1 prospect to Double-A Trenton for the third consecutive year.

Following in the footsteps of catcher Dioner Navarro in 2004 and Arizona Fall League Most Valuable Player Eric Duncan last season, 19-year-old right-hander Philip Hughes apparently will not be left behind in the warmer environs of Florida until May and is being penciled in to start April 7 vs. Altoona at Blair County Ballpark.

Being in big-league camp (earlier this month) was huge," said Hughes, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander and the 23rd overall pick in the 2004 first-year player draft. "It was such a great experience just being around those guys and seeing how they get ready for their season.

"It helps ... seeing some of the things they do, and then having the opportunity to face some big league hitters while I was there was a great opportunity for me."

Hughes worked 3 2/3 innings and allowed five hits, one earned run with a walk and one strikeout during yesterday's punchless 2-0 loss to New Hampshire that had luminaries throughout the organization popping their heads in for a peek at the system's newest golden goose.

In addition to the entire Yankees minor-league brass monitoring Hughes' every movement, general manager Brian Cashman arrived during the third inning and closer Mariano Rivera also made an appearance during the kid's final inning of work.

After catching him at Legends Field earlier this month, four-time American League All-Star Jorge Posada predicted Hughes would be in the big leagues by the end of the season.

Talk about pressure.

"Those things are nice to hear, but you really can't take much from that," said Hughes, who pounds the strike zone with a fastball clocked as high as 94 mph yesterday. "It's just one of those things where you just have to get ready for the season, and that's what I'm trying to do right now. You have to take that top prospect thing with a grain of salt because there are a lot of other guys out here that can play baseball, too."


-- -- --


With rumors of Hughes' destination of Class-A Tampa to begin 2006 squashed by multiple camp sources yesterday, including Hughes himself, Thunder pitching coach Dave Eiland has his starting rotation for the season-opening road trip against the Curve and Harrisburg April 6-12 virtually set.

Steven White, the Yanks' top pitching prospect last season before injuries and a frightening bout of pancreatitis shut down his campaign after only 11 starts, will get the ball opening night for the second consecutive season.

"Hey, it has to go better than last season's," said White, pummeled by Erie at Jerry Uht Park during his Double-A debut last April. "But I'm looking forward to it. It looks like we're going to have a real good staff."

Barring any physical setbacks, White and Hughes -- the latter 9-1 with a 2.07 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 101-20 since being signed by scout Jeff Patterson out of Foothills High in Santa Ana, Calif., in 2004 -- are locked in for the first two games against Altoona.

Left-hander Danny Borrell, today's projected starter against Reading in Clearwater, is lined up for Game 3 and is tentatively scheduled to be followed by another highly touted farmhand, Tyler Clippard.

Until the big club's "trickle down" of cuts are complete, Jeremy King likely will step in as the Thunder's fifth starter.



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Grandy4MVP
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I'm shocked you didn't blog this old man!
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Mantlemurcer
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VarsityVin
Mar 29 2006, 10:51 AM
I'm shocked you didn't blog this old man!

Blog this ;)
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Venom
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I'll be keeping my fat eye on Hughes all season long.
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HomieYank
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Pretty supprised about this actually. I had heard he would start in Tampa so the weather in Jersey didn't bother him. I'm kinda glad he's going to Trenton. It will be cool to see how quickly he adapts.
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HomieYank
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Hughes
Clippard
White
Karsens
Borrell

That should be the rotation. Its pretty cool that Hughes, Clippard, White, and Cox may ball be on the same staff with Schmidt not far behind.
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Venom
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Borrell has gotta be like 45 years old by now. He's been in the Yankees system forever.
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